A friend was telling me about a conversation she had with her husband where they asked each other to list their Top Five Life Events. She shared a few from her list with me . . . being a mother to her 3 beautiful children, that gorgeous vacation to Mexico, the time her husband took her to the US Tennis Open. I was glad she didn’t ask me to list mine. Not because there aren’t five top events, but because there are five million and more. The beautiful moments of life run together for me, like one long reel of great clips. It’s not that my life is perfect or without pain and suffering. This is the human condition. It’s not as though I’ve accomplished anything of great significance, nothing to brag about or warrant a Wikipedia page. And still my life is worthwhile. It’s meaningful. And every high and low makes me feel alive.
I was rushing, overwhelmed with too much on my plate and starting to gasp and sputter and run out of steam. They reached out and touched my arm, looked into my eyes, and said, “First this, then that.” We took a breath together, and I laughed. Their simple suggestion felt like the sun breaking through gloom. Of course, I was letting my mind race ahead, and it rightfully felt overwhelmed; instead, I needed to do one thing at a time to find my way from where I was to where I meant to be.
—Kathryn Nicolai, Nothing Much Happens
. . . It felt so clear,
all those invisible ties
interwoven like silken threads
strong enough to make a mesh
that for thousands of years
has been woven and rewoven
to catch us all.
—Safety Net by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Many thanks to my friend, Janice Falls for introducing me to this Heart Poem.